Mason Mount hoping illness won’t keep him out for long

Chelsea keep racking up the wins, but we are also busy stacking injuries and the like. The latest to join that growing contingent is Mason Mount.

He had traveled with the rest of the (fit contingent of the) Chelsea team up to Newcastle, and the hat-trick hero from last weekend was all set to keep that good form going in the Saturday afternoon encounter at newly rechristened St Reece James’ Park.

But Mount was nowhere to be found when the lineups were announced an hour before kick-off. As it turned out, he wasn’t even in Newcastle by then, having been sent back to London after waking up feeling ill in the morning.

“He should have started but he got ill overnight and so we sent him home to London so that we can take care of him better and that he can recover better.”

-Thomas Tuchel; source: Football.London

These days, every illness is expected to be COVID-19, but Mount confirmed on social media after the game that it’s something else — which is good as he won’t have to quarantine for a minimum of ten days, but also bad as we don’t know whether it could be something even worse!

That said, it sounds like Mount’s targeting a quick recovery, so hopefully it’s just something common and minor. However, we play in Malmö on Tuesday, which may still be a bit too soon even if recovery takes just the “next couple days”.

Burnley on the weekend is next after that, and that’s followed by the international break, which will be our only meaningful break for the next several months, so hopefully everyone can heal up properly — they’ll be needed!